Corky Hale - Gene Norman Presents… Corky Hale (2014)

Yet another inspired project from Gene Norman, Corky Hale is only the 17th GNP album and the debut LP for Hale. Far from being previously unknown, however, Hale had appeared on the Liberace TV show, among others, for four years. She is blessed with perfect pitch and apparently is adept at piano, flute, and cello, in addition to harp. Here she is supported by an all-star cast of West Coast jazzmen, and as she states in her own liner notes, the arrangements were very sparse; consequently, the performances rely heavily on improvisation. Unlike other harp recordings of jazz standards, this one does seem to swing, in spite of the fact that (as Hale explains in the liner notes) the harp is not really suited to swing. While not as intense as Dorothy Ashby's work, it is one of the first jazz-harp LPs.~ Review by Tony Wilds